The Dragon's Shadow
by Generator X
Summary: time is an illusion. this is the story of Azula's aide, Kazuno. what secrets does she have? and how will she change the shape of time?
1. prologue

this is my first fanfici do not own the rights to Avater, i own nothing!

* * *

><p>prologue-<p>

_"I will save her!"_

_"You kn-w what you risk"_

_"I'll ri-k anything-, I risk everything! If it's to s-ve HER!"_

_"If you do.."_

_"I know what I do…if…I…..Go-….bel-….pow-…**innocent**!"_

I awoke with a start. After taking a moment to collect my thoughts, I sat up and pushed my hair out of my face.

"_A nightmare, but I haven't had that nightmare in years! So why now?"  
><em>  
>"I've got a feeling about this," I said to no one as I got up. Looking out the cabin's window, I saw it was almost noon. For a fire-bender I do sleep late. Time to get dressed and prepare for tonight.<p>

The ship's cabin I was in was small, which was to be expected, as the ship was the same type that Zuko had: old. I was only using it for the week anyway. So I didn't even bother decorating it.

Tonight was going to be my first mission as a spy for the Fire Nation. Going to my closet, I remembered what Azula had said before I left.

_"Father's giving you this mission to show everyone what you're capable of. I know you can do this; just come home quickly and be safe."_

That's Azula-speak for, _"Father's giving you this suicide mission to see if you're dirt or not. I taught you so I know you can do this, so get it over with and come home quickly."_

The mission itself was simple: sneak in, get info, sneak out. The only problem was where I was sneaking into. The whole thing was supposed to be a three-day mission.

Remembering the 'thing' I had brought with me, I smiled. It's a good thing I thought ahead to bring it.

"Three days? Let's try one."

* * *

><p>On the western coast of the Earth Kingdom stood one of the few remaining strongholds for the Kingdom: General Fong's fortress. And Tu-Xing thought he had one of the most boring assignments ever; guarding the top of the tower in the center at night.<p>

"Why am I even up here?" he said. "I can't see anything. It's not as if the Fire Nation is going to come flying-"

If only he'd looked up.

He'd see a strange flying shadow, or at least a foot, coming at him.

* * *

><p>on top of the fortress tower, i stood wearing what looked like black Air Nomad clothing, a saddle bag, hood and a plain white mask. Holding a glider in my hand I looked around to see if anyone had spotted my landing.<p>

I then heard a groan.

Looking down, i saw that i was standing on someone's head.

"Ouch," I said as I jumped off him. "Bad night to be that guy." Looking around again, i placed the glider next to the unconscious man.

Walking to the edge of the tower i looked down checking to see if anybody saw me. Pulling back my over-long sleeves, i revealed my Tekagi-shuko, or 'claws' as some people called them.

A normal person would of needed to take the stairs to get up here. Normal person, that is.

General Fong was in his office reading reports from the platoon that was preparing to attack a Fire Nation colony, and drinking some 'chi enhancing tea.' in order to stay up long enough to complete his task.

As General Fong read the reports, he failed to notice the purple dust falling into his cup of the tea.

One sip and….nothing happened.

More dust fell in.

A sip and nothing happened…

More dust, again.

Another sip and nothing happened…again!

A small purple tablet fell in. One sip and he was out.

"Finally," i said with a sigh. Hanging from ceiling using a pare of claws was not as easy as it looked, my arm were getting tired.

i jumped down from the ceiling onto General Fong's table.

"What the monkey-feathers is in that tea?" I'd put enough sleeping dust in there to knock out ten men. Opening i saddle bag, i took samples of the unused tea for later. Whatever it was, it was mine now. As i jumped off the table, i looked around the office.

my gut feeling about this place was right on the money. Outside it was a fortress, but inside the tower it was just the General and two guards right outside the room. It would be suicide to come in by ground.

But by air…

I just knew taking that glider from the Mechanist last year had been a good idea, and nobody knew about it but me.

After writing copies of all the reports and putting them in my saddle bag, i looked around the office again to see if anything else was worth taking.

Stopping to stare at the sleeping General for a moment, i remembered something.

_"Ozai said if the opportunity presents itself, I'm to kill General Fong."_

After staring for a moment longer, i shrugged her shoulders. "Humph, too bad. I'm in a hurry." i said. i was not going to kill someone just because Ozai said so.

When i didn't see anything else worth taking, i slipped out through the window. i had managed to do in one night what was supposed to be a three-day mission. "Not bad." I said to myself

Now i just needed to get back home in one piece.

I walked around the Cornel to were my glider was, only to find a new guard looking at it.

"Gator-rats!" i whispered. i knew this was going too easily.

Taking out a blow dart gun from my sleeve, i took aim. As the new guard bent over to check on the other one, i fired. The new guard stood straight up, made a funny sound, and fell over his friend.

i ran over and whispered "Sorry," as i took the dart. Grabbing the glider and made my exit.

* * *

><p>It was dawn by the time I made it back to the ship, making sure to collapse my glider and wrapping it up so no one could tell what it was. No need to tell my secrets.<p>

When I saw the captain standing on the deck I already knew what he was going to say.

"And what are you doing back so soon?"

Yep, there it was; time to do my Azula impression.

"What do you think I'm doing? I'm returning from a _completed _mission. Now set course to the drop off point; I'm going to my room."

As I walked past the captain, he grabbed me by my arm. "It takes a day just to get here and you expect me to believe-"

"I expect you to believe the Fire Lord chose me for a reason. Now if you've got a problem, you can talk to HIM!"

He glared at the eyes of my mask for a moment before he unhanded me. "Set course," I said, before I went to my room.

Once inside I collapsed on my bed. Taking off my mask, I wiped away my tears and sweat. I thought I was going to have a heart attack there for a moment.

Outside I heard two guards talking.

"Who is that girl? To talk to the captain like that-"

"You don't know? She's a Colonel."

"A Colonel! But she's just a kid!"

"They say her mother was a servant at the royal palace, but..."

"But?"

"Officially her father is unknown, but everyone knows it's some noble."

"A noble's illegitimate daughter?"

"Yeah, the family doesn't officially recognize her so she's basically a servant. But for some reason the princess has taken a liking to her, made her a protégé. I hear they act like sisters, and as Azula's aide her rank is that of Colonel…"

"Why?"

"Who knows, but because of that, and because she shadows Azula everywhere, they call her…"

As they walked out of earshot, the name came to my mouth without my permission.

"The Dragon's Shadow."

* * *

><p>Author- me<br>Beta - avatardestiny, EndlessFlame55


	2. Chapter 1 The Hunt Begins

"Coincidence is God's way of remaining anonymous."

— Albert Einstein

_"Confront them with annihilation, and they will then survive; plunge them into a deadly situation, and they will then live. When people fall into danger, they are then able to strive for victory."_  
>— Sun Tzu<p>

this it my first finfic

I do not own the rights to Avatar, I own nothing!

Author- me  
>Beta - avatardestiny<p>

Chapter 1  
>"The Hunt Begins"<p>

* * *

><p>At the moment, I was sitting on my bed painting my toenails. Well, painting isn't the right word. It was just a clear polish with something special added.<p>

Poison.

Shirshu saliva, with a few special berries mixed into it, to be exact. Causes blurred vision, dizziness and paralysis, and it can even knock people out sometimes. All of my nails had it, and my weapons too, not that it could hurt me. You see, I've built up an immunity to it, and so has Azula; she just doesn't know it yet.

In order to build an immunity to the Shirshu's toxins, you need to ingest a very small amount with some special herbs. Slipping it into her tea for a month without her knowing was not easy, and I can imagine the look on her face if she found out she's been drinking Shirshu-spit.

_"Note to self: Tell her when I have something to hide behind."_

At that moment, a knock at the door made me jump, and I almost grabbed my mask.

"What is it?" I asked.

"Ma'am, we'll be docking soon," a guard said though the door.

"Good. Inform me when Fuego returns immediately," I answered, as I returned to finishing up my toenails.

"Yes Ma'am!" He left and I let out a sigh. This was not what was supposed to happen! This whole trip was supposed to take a week, a week! Not an indefinite amount of time!

I thought back to how this had happened.

* * *

><p><em>On my way to make the drop off, I had already sent Fuego (my personal Dragon Hawk) to tell Azula about my successful mission, and that after the drop I was going to head straight home. The drop off was a small harbor located in the western Earth Kingdom. It was a tiny trading port and a seedy place, but it welcomed ships from all the nations.<em>

_As long as they had money, of course._

_Because we had arrived earlier than expected, we had to wait three days for my contact, something the captain was not all too happy about. I had spent most of my time in my room in order to avoid him. After three days my contact arrived and I made the hand off._

_After we finally set sail, we were only half a day away when Fuego returned with a note. Thinking it was from Azula, praising me for my good job, I opened it as fast as I could._

_I had to read it ten more times before it finally sank in._

_The Avatar had returned._

_The nightmares! I'd had them all this week! So that was why; it all made sense now._

_I now had new orders to gather information around the area regarding the Avatar. I went and told the captain about this, and he was not happy. "More babysitting," he called it._

_In my room, I realized I had some problems. First, my cabin was basically a steel box. Next, I had no money for anything. And then of course there was the captain, who looked like he wanted to kill me._

_And to top it all off, the ship was falling apart!_

_I didn't even know when I was going to get to come home now! So I sent Fuego to Azula again with a note that could be summed up in one word._

_HELP!_

* * *

><p>So here I was, in my room, about to go hunting for someone who has been missing for a hundred years, in the middle of nowhere. How fun. Now I know how Zuko must have felt.<p>

But at least I had picked up a body mirror to help me fix myself up.

Looking into it, I saw that my golden eyes were as bright as ever, my dark brown-black hair in what they called a 'Hime cut', with my hairstyle consisting of straight cheek-length side locks pulled behind my ears and a frontal fringe to my eyebrows. The rest of the hair was worn long and straightened an inch below my shoulders.

My outfit was a custom-made domestic soldier's uniform; it had distinct, over-long gold-trimmed sleeves and black tight pants. Unlike female soldiers who wear shirts that expose their midriffs, I do not. My shoulder and chest plate armor, which shows the rank of an officer, had bright red trim, the highest rank. The golden flame in the center showed that I was the princess's aide, which was a new rank. A golden neckband with a ruby in the center completed my outfit.

And there was my mask; whenever I wore it, I always felt confident. The kanji on its forehead said 'dragon' and 'shadow.' Putting it on I was no longer Kazuno the maid, but Kazuno the Dragon's Shadow.

* * *

><p>By the time we docked, it was almost noon and I was hungry. As I stepped off the ship, I was surprised to find a welcoming party of eleven men waiting for me on the docks. One of them stepped forward. "Colonel Kazuno! By order of Princess Azula, we are here to deliver aide!" he said.<p>

I couldn't help but smile behind my mask. _"Azula, I could kiss you!"_

I stood in the at ease position and tried to look official. "And who are you?" I asked him. He snapped to attention. "I am Captain Shun, ma'am! I am to take over the command of your ship." It was then I noticed a large chest being carried by two guards. Another had a bag and a scroll.

"And what are those?" I asked, eyeing them curiously.

"They're gifts from the princess, ma'am," Shun answered.

Walking over, I picked up the scroll. It was orders for the local shipyard to fix up my ship. Picking up the bag I looked inside…

"Wah!"

Gold! And a lot of it! At least a lot for me. I may live at the palace, but I was still a servant, after all. I've never had so much money before in my life!

_"Azula, I **will** kiss you!"_

Trying to keep my composure (or what was left of it), I opened the chest to see what was inside, and was surprised to see it had most of my stuff, even my…..

I slammed the trunk shut and turned to Captain Shun. "Captain! Put the chest in my cabin, and **don't** let it get damaged! Then take the ship to get repaired," I ordered him, giving him the scroll.

"Yes ma'am!"

"I'm going to be taking two of the men to town with the bag. I'll meet you at the shipyard," I said, as I started to walk away.

"But how will you be get there, ma'am?" Shun asked uncertainly.

"Oh, I have my ways," I replied with a amused smirk.

* * *

><p>The place we docked at was a mining town used for coal. I had chosen this place to start my hunt because the Avatar had been spotted on Kyoshi Island, and was reported to be heading this way.<p>

As I walked down the street, I noticed that the looks the people were giving me. They were a mixture of fear and hatred, but mostly fear, like I was going to eat them or something.

It just felt _wrong_.

_"Maybe it was a bad idea to bring these two after all,"_ I thought as I looked behind me at my skull-faced 'bodyguards', but it was too late to send them back now. _"I should've at least worn a disguise or something. But then I'd never get anything done."_ Without my mask I was just too timid, and besides that, the last thing I needed was for the local authorities to give me a hard time about who I was and what I was doing here. No, I can always wear a disguise to get info later.

But first things first, I was hungry, and I was determined to fix that.

Looking around, I spotted a tavern that looked good. Turning to my men, I held up the bag with my thumb and forefinger and shook it. "If you guys are hungry, I'll treat you to a meal." The men looked at each other for a moment, then back at me and nodded eagerly.

After we sat down and ordered our food, I got a good look at the men without their helmets for the first time. They were both young, maybe eighteen or so, and seemed nervous. Now that I thought about it, Shun looked like he was in his twenties. Most captains were in their thirties or more, but then again, who was I to say anything about age? I'm a Colonel and I'm only twelve, thirteen in a few months.

After our food came, the men started to chow down. I pulled up my mask slightly and started to eat. The men stopped what they were doing and stared at me, but after a quick glance at each other they went back to eating, deciding it was better not to say anything. I've gotten used to the weird stares and questioning looks about my mask, so I paid them no mind.

Usually in a tavern you can get information just by listening; people love to gossip. But I got nothing. News of the Avatar had yet to get this far it seemed, otherwise someone would have said something by now. Once news of the Avatar got out, it would be on everyone's lips. On the bright side, this would mean less rumors and more facts.

After the meal, I decided go shopping for a few things, until the ship was fixed. I needed to keep my purchases small, so I picked up some bed sheets, curtains, a rug, a pillow and some candles for my room. My 'bodyguards' were soooo helpful, carrying all that for me.

Stopping at one place to pick up some tea and sugar, I walked in to look around. Inside were a middle-aged woman and a young man.

"Can I help you?" she asked with hostility. _"Friendly,"_ I thought as I walked in. The people here obviously didn't like the Fire Nation. It made sense I suppose; to them we were the invaders, the intruders on their land.

Looking at her, something reminded me of my mother for a moment. Shaking my head, I replied, "No thank you mo- ma'am, I was just looking." Hoping she didn't notice my slipup and trying to ignore the looks the young man was giving me, I looked around and found some tea I liked and a bag of sugar. I also found some lemons and honey for my special recipes. Placing the items on the counter I pulled out my money bag and turned to the woman. "What do I owe you?" I asked her.

The young man leaned against the counter with his arms crossed over his chest. "Since when does the Fire Nation _pay_ for what they want?" he asked under his breath, causing me to turn my head.

"Haru!" the woman snapped.

"Is there a problem?" I asked, turning my full attention on 'Haru' and trying to sound calm and not as annoyed as I was. _"this guy's been giving me the evil eye since I came here and I want to know why"_

"No, there's no problem at all," the woman replied, trying to defuse a possible situation before things got out of hand.

Crossing my arms over my chest, I focused on him. "No, I want to hear this. What's the problem?" I asked, tapping my foot.

Haru looked me straight in the eye, and I could tell he wanted to give me a piece of his mind. But then he looked at the woman, and he lowered his gaze. "Nothing," he said bitterly, as he squeezed his fists.

_"Nothing, hmmm? I'll have to look into this."_

I gave the woman three gold coins and told her to keep the change. I decided to go back to the ship. _I'm going to need some copper and silver coins, otherwise I'll run out of money fast._ I wouldn't have given her that much if it weren't for the fact that she reminded me of my mother. The whole thing left a bad taste in my mouth for some reason.

I was going to come back tomorrow; my gut feeling told me I had to.

And it's never been wrong before.

* * *

><p>Getting to the shipyard had been easy; all I had to do was scare the prison ship captain into taking me there. Being known as Princess Azula's right hand had its advantages.<p>

Once I was at the shipyard, I let the prison ship captain go and headed to my ship. On my way there, I was stopped by someone.

"And where to you think you're going?"

I instantly liked his voice; too bad he looked like a viper-bat.

"I am Colonel Kazuno, Princess Azula's right hand, and I'm going to my ship," I said with all the authority I could put in my voice. The man's frown turned into an obviously fake smile, and he opened his arms wide. "Ah yes, the Dragon's Shadow! We've been expecting you! I am the humble warden of this fine establishment!" He ended with a bow.

"Warden?" I cocked my head to the side. "I thought this was a shipyard?" My gut feeling was on overdrive; something was wrong.

The man's smile widened. "My dear…" _why_ did he have to call me that? "…this is a prison as well as a shipyard. Why just keep prisoners, when you can put them to good use?"

Turning to my men, I ordered them to put my things in my cabin while the warden gave me a tour of his 'fine establishment.'

Said tour took an hour to complete and was beyond boring, but nothing looked out of place. Yet, the tour ended at the prison-yard, after I insisted we visit there.

"As you can see, escape is impossible. They are miles away from any rock or earth. They are powerless," he said.

Looking up at the smoke in the sky, I asked "What about the coal?"

He laughed. "Hahaha, impossible. Even if they could get to it, just look at them. Their spirits are broken."

Looking at them, it definitely looked it. It was like the life had been drained out of them.

"What are they here for? What's their crime?" I asked, sounding bored.

"Their crime?" he raised his eyebrow. "Their crime my dear…" _Again?_ "…is earthbending."

"I see." I noticed some of them were eating stew of some kind, and the maid in me took over. Going to the pot, I looked inside and inspected the stew. It looked bad, smelled bad, I took my finger and tasted it…..

And I almost threw up.

WHAT were they feeding these people?

The maid in me **demanded** that I do something. I would not stand idly by while this, this, STUFF! was being eaten.

I put my hands behind my back and did my best 'cute girl' pose. "Warden, _my dear_, you look hungry. Why not let ME take charge of the kitchen while I'm here? As a thank you for all your help?" I asked, in the sweetest voice I could muster. The warden took a moment to stroke his chin, thinking about it. "Well…" he said.

"Pleeeeeeeease!" I whined in my little girl voice. "Why, the Princess herself has praised me for my cooking!"

I was starting to get worried he wasn't going to take the bait. One reason I wore a mask was because I had a lousy poker face. But as he tried to read me, all he could go by was my body language, which said I was harmless.

Which I was not.

He smiled and said "I would be honored."

* * *

><p>I told Captain Shun my plan, which was simple, while the warden and his men were busy eating the food I had prepared. I would volunteer my men to keep an eye on the prisoners, while Shun himself would keep the warden busy if he got suspicious of anything while I was in the kitchen.<p>

Two of my men would take any 'extra food' to the prisoners, with a message saying they were gifts from me for all the hard work they were doing.

The 'extras' were, in fact, my best stew recipe, some loaves of bread, and tea. The maid in me simply could not allow that SLOP they call food to be served. I had spent to long serving the princess to do otherwise.

The plan went off without a problem, especially since the kitchen had more food to spare than I thought it would. Seeing everything was going smoothly in the kitchen, I decided to go up to the dining hall to see how things were going.

Shun was doing a good job keeping the warden busy. Judging by the look on his face, it was not a job he enjoyed. The warden didn't even notice me, so I took that as a good sign.

Going to the prison-yard, I could already notice the improved mood of the prisoners, also a good sign. As I turned to leave, a tall prisoner with a long beard walked up to me.

"I understand that we have you to thank for this food," he said politely. I nodded my head and turned towards him. "It's no problem; I just thought you guys should eat something that's actually…food."

The man gave off a different presence from the others; he still looked beaten down but not as much. He reminded me of that old phase, 'a mountain of a man'.

Appropriate for an earthbender.

"We appreciate it," he said as he stroked his beard. I turn around to walk away and looked over my shoulder.

"I'll be leaving here the day after tomorrow, but until then, I'll do what I can."

As I walked away, I heard him say, "We appreciate whatever kindness you can offer. Though, I am surprised someone from the Fire Nation would want to help us."

That made me stop. Without moving, I asked him, "Why did you fight? Do you have something to protect?"

There was a pause before he answered, "I have a family."

I turned around and looked him in the eye "I…have a sister. We all have something we fight for."

In his eyes I could tell he understood.

* * *

><p>Back on the ship, it was almost nightfall and I had just finished fixing up my cabin. Now it looked more like a room than a box.<p>

Kneeling down in front of my chest, I slowly opened it. Gently picking up a rolled up cloth, I unwrapped it to reveal a flute. I closed my eyes and remembered a silhouette of a woman from long ago. I could feel the tears swell up in my eyes and slowly slide down my cheeks.

Taking off my mask, I put the flute to my lips and began to play a beautiful, slow, sad melody that echoed throughout the ship.

* * *

><p>The next day, I put Shun in charge while I went back to the village. This time I moved around by jumping from rooftop to rooftop and keeping to the shadows. It was starting to get late and I was kneeling on top of the shop from yesterday.<p>

Today had been a bust; I got no information about that Avatar, or anything else for that matter. The best thing I could find out about was that a local woman was expecting twins.

I left her five gold coins and a note saying congratulations.

I didn't even see that young man from yesterday, what was his name? Haru?

_"Hmmmm? Well, speak of the Face-Stealer, there he is."_

Indeed there he was, heading straight into the shop, and it looked like a young girl was following him. Her clothes struck me as odd for a second. Then I realized they were Water Tribe.

Going to a small hole in the roof I made earlier, I pressed my ear to it and listened to the conversation below.

"Hi, mom."

"Haru! Where have you been?" I heard the woman from yesterday say

_"mom? So they're related."_ I mentally kicked myself for not realizing it sooner.

I then heard somebody open the door.

"Hey, you're that kid! Why did you run away before?"

a girl by the sound of it, the watertribe?

"Uh, you must have me confused with some other kid." Haru said

A new voice entered the conversation, a boy I think. "No she doesn't, we saw you earthbending."

_"Earthbending?"_

There were the sounds of door and windows closing.

"They saw you doing what?" the woman asked

" They're crazy, mom! I mean, look at how they're dressed!" I almost fell off the roof. I'd take it he's never seen someone from the watertribe before.

"You know how dangerous that is! You know what would happen if they caught you earthbending!" the woman said

From outside there was a heavy knock at the door.

"Open up!"

" Fire Nation! Act natural!" a young man warned.

Curios I looked though the hole and got a view of them caught freeze-frame in the midst of some very unconvincing _normal_ poses. The top of the barrel that one kid was leaning on shifted and his hand went into the water up to his shoulder.

_"Who are these idiots?"_

"What do you want? I've already paid you this week." the woman asked the Soldier

"The tax just doubled." he said "Wouldn't want an accident, would we?"

_"Tax doubled?"_

The soldier produced a fireball in his hands and smiled.

" Fire is sometimes so hard to control."

_"OK, Note to self: Check to see if there are any corrupt law officials."_

Haru's mother's expression melted from defiance to fear. She walked over and placed a small chest on a table. She opened it to reveal a few coins. She took most of them out and gave them to the soldier. "You can keep the copper ones." he said as he dumped the small ones on the ground.

_"She must have hidden the gold ones I gave her yesterday."_

As he left, Haru's mother picked up the copper coins.

"Nice guy." the young man said sarcastically.

_"Tell me about it."_

" How long has the Fire Nation been here?" he asked

"Five years." the woman said tiredly "Fire Lord Ozai uses our town's coal mines to fuel his ships."

Haru chimed in with his opinion "They're thugs; they steal from us, and everyone here is too much of a coward to do anything about it."

"Quiet, Haru. Don't talk like that." his mother warned him.

The girl in water tribe clothing turned to her and said "But Haru's an earthbender. He can help."

"Earthbending is forbidden." Haru's mother replied "It's caused nothing but misery for this village. He must never use his abilities."

"How can you say that? Haru has a gift. Asking him not to earthbend is like asking me not to waterbend. It's a part of who we are."

_"Waterbend?"_

"You don't understand."

"I understand that Haru can help you fight back. What can the Fire Nation do to you that they haven't done already?" the Waterbender asked

"They could take Haru away! Like they took his father."

_"So that's it,"_ I thought as I got up.

Now I understood.

The reason why Haru was so hostile to me, why the townspeople were so afraid of me, and the reason why the prison felt off to me.

I was so caught up in my thoughts I almost missed them as they left.

* * *

><p>I had followed them to Haru's house, Were I saw the strangest cow.<p>

It was sunset and I was sitting in the trees thinking about going back to the ship, when the WaterTribe girl and Haru came walking by.

Leaping from tree to tree, I followed them and their conversation.

"I'm sorry about what I said earlier. I didn't know about your father." the WaterTribe girl said apologetically.

"That's ok. It's funny, the way you were talking back in the store, it reminded me of him."

"Thanks"

"My father was very courageous. When the Fire Nation invaded, he and the other earthbenders were outnumbered ten to one, but they fought back anyway." Haru explained

"He sounds like a great man."

The girl and Haru walked up to a small hill that overlooking the countryside and Haru knelt down.

" After the attack, they rounded up my father every other earthbender and took them away. We haven't seen them since." he said

"So, that's why you hide your earthbending?" The girl asked

"Yeah." Haru answered

He began twirling some small stones in the air.

"The problem is that the only way I can feel close to my father now is when I practice my bending." Haru said as he crushed the stones into sand. "He taught me everything I know."

The girl sat next to him and placed her hand on her neck. "See this necklace? My mother gave it to me."

"It's beautiful." Haru remarked

"I lost my mother in a Fire Nation raid. This necklace is all I have left of her."

I thought back to the silhouette of the woman.

" It's not enough, is it?" Haru asked

The girl answered the same thing I felt.

"No."

* * *

><p>It was time to go back.<p>

That night I had trouble sleeping; I tossed and turned in my bed. Beside me on the nightstand was my flute. Looking at it for a moment, I closed my eyes.

_"Hahaha, impossible; even if they could get to it, just look at them. Their spirits are broken."_

_"Their crime? Their crime, my dear, is earthbending."_

_"We appreciate whatever kindness you can offer. Though, I am surprised someone from the Fire Nation would want to help us."_

_"Why did you fight? Do you have something to protect?"_

_"I have a family."_

_"I…have a sister. We all have something we fight for."_

_Girl: See this necklace? My mother gave it to me.  
>Haru: It's beautiful.<br>Girl: I lost my mother in a Fire Nation raid. This necklace is all I have left of her.  
>Haru: It's not enough, is it?<br>Girl/Me: No._

Opening my eyes, I reached over to pick it up. Lying on my back, I played a single note.

The sound always helped me sleep.

* * *

><p>It was past noon when I woke up. After a getting dressed I went looking for Captain Shun. I found him on the deck supervising the final repairs.<p>

"Captain," I greeted. "Status report?"

"Everything is on schedule," he replied. I noticed he seemed more chipper than usual. "The repairs and modifications will be complete early tomorrow, tonight if we pull early shifts. I must say I've never seen a ship like this before."

Hearing that made me smile. "That's because it's of my own design."

Shun, turned his head towards me with a surprised look on his face. "Yours, ma'am?"

I shrugged my shoulders and looked up at the clouds in the sky. "The idea came to me when I realized something; the Fire Nation has a flaw. We do everything big and flashy. As a spy I realized that that's not always the best way. Subtlety has its advantages, Captain."

I turned and started to leave the ship. Before I left, I yelled back at the captain, "Tell the men to help the earthbenders! I want the ship ready for tonight!" As I walked off the ship and into the ship yard I said quietly to myself, "We may need to leave here in a hurry."

* * *

><p>Sneaking into the warden's office had been all too easy. The guy had everything on a tight schedule. All I had to do was wait for a specific time and I could walk right in. I had a total of 15 minutes before the next patrol, so I needed to work fast.<p>

The first thing I noticed was that there was a large painting of the warden's face hanging on the wall.

My eyebrow twitched behind my mask. _"Gee, somebody's a bit egotistical."_

Men who thought like this were very easy to figure out. Looking to my left, I saw a much smaller picture of the Fire Lord. Walking over to, I removed it to reveal the wall safe.

"Now let's see here, on the tour he said he became the warden on…" Using the dial, I put in the date and the safe popped open. Inside were several documents, and one of them had what I needed. It showed that the taxes had doubled several times and so had the pay of certain individuals. But the money going to the Fire Nation hadn't changed at all.

I'VE GOT HIM! I knew something was up! Now all I need is to get this information to the right people.

For the rest of the day I spent my time following the warden around, keeping to the shadows so I wouldn't be detected. During that time, I noticed he had a short fuse. He would threaten to throw a soldier overboard for even the slightest mistake. This was something he had never displayed when he was aware of my presence. Obviously, he didn't want me to have anything negative to say to my superiors about him.

By the end of the day, I was at my wit's end watching this pompous blowhard. He was greeting some prisoners, or 'honored guests' as he liked to call them. He ordered one poor soul to be placed in solitary for a week just for coughing as he walked by.

It was then I noticed one prisoner in particular. It was the Water Tribe girl from yesterday.

What was she doing here?

* * *

><p>Going to the prison-yard, trying to making it look like it was an inspection, I looked around for the girl. I was letting my curiosity get the best of me, a dangerous thing for a spy.<p>

"-tara, this is my father, Tyro. Dad, this is Katara."

_"Haru?"_ I recognized his voice instantly. I spotted him AND the girl ('Katara' was apparently her name) standing next to the 'mountain of a man' Tyro, who was sitting on the ground in one of the groups of prisoners eating. He turned to Haru and Katara, and Katara bowed to him. "It's an honor to meet you," she said.

Tyro handed a bowl to her and said "Have some dinner, Katara." She took the bowl with a hungry expression, sat down, and ate a spoonful.

"Wow! This is good!" she said, looking surprised.

My pride as a cook swelled in me.

Tyro smiled. "You can thank Lady Kazuno for that; for the last few days she been sneaking food to us."

Katara looked at Tyro. "Who?"

A prisoner walked up to Tyro and touched his shoulder. "Tyro, the prisoners are complaining there aren't enough blankets to go around."

"I'll talk to the guards about that," I said before I could stop myself.

_"what I'm I doing!"_ I yelled at myself.

_"I'm a spy, Not a maid, a spy!"_

Haru and Katara looked at me, stunned and I started to sweat arrows.

"Katara, Haru, this is Lady Kazuno," Tyro said. "To what do we owe the honor?"

I bowed to Katara, then turned to Tyro. "I, I came to inform you that I'll be leaving here tonight." I said thinking as fast as I could. "So I'm afraid this is the last time you'll get to eat my stew. I wish I could do more," I said apologetically

Tyro nodded his head. "You have already done much for us."

"I'll see about those blankets." Turning around, I walked to the guards to ask them about the blankets.

_"smooth Kazuno, real smooth. Why don't you tell the Warden you cracked his safe while you're at it?"_

If Azula saw that….

It was then that I heard a noise.

It was Katara, standing up on a small raised platform and banging the lid of a pot with her spoon several times, getting everyone's attention.

"Earthbenders! You don't know me, but I know of you. Every child of my Water Tribe village was rocked to sleep with stories of the brave Earth Kingdom and the courageous earthbenders who guard its borders. Some of you may think that the Fire Nation has made you powerless. Yes, they have taken away your ability to bend, but they can't take away your courage and it is your courage they should truly fear! Because it runs deeper than any mine you've been forced to dig, any ocean that keeps you far from home. It is the strength of your hearts that make you who you are, hearts that will remain unbroken when all rock and stone has eroded away. The time to fight back is now! I can tell you the Avatar has returned! So remember your courage, earthbenders, let us fight for our freedom!"

Katara's face looked determined, but after a few moments passed, her expression started to weaken as prisoners turned away from her.

Katara looked crushed.

Above us I saw the Warden, smiling.

_"You won't be smiling when I get that evidence out."_

* * *

><p>That night we were ready to set sail.<p>

As we were leaving, I was standing on the deck looking back at the shipyard in the distance. I felt sorry for them, but hopefully I'd be able to do something for them after I took care of the warden.

I was about to go inside when I spotted something in the sky.

_"A flying cow?"_

I needed more sleep…

Ha, a flying cow.

A flying bison…

Flying in the sky.

A sky bison.

Sky bison, airbender.

Last airbender, Avatar.

_"THE AVATAR?"_

I was happy I had my mask on, so no one could see the stupid look on my face.

I don't know how I did it, but I went from being on the deck to barging into the bridge in under a minute, yelling "Captain! Cut the engines and turn this thing around, NOW!"

Shun jumped in surprise. "Wh-? What? Why?"

"I just saw the Avatar!"

* * *

><p>On my orders we doused the lights and waited two klick's away from the rig for something to happen. we waited until dawn, but it was worth it.<p>

From my ship, using my telescope, I saw him, the Avatar.

his tattoos gave him away.

_"He's just a kid."_

The Avatar was suppose to be a hundred years old, how did THAT happen?

The Avatar had come to free the prisoners, and was now fighting with them. As I watched the battle unfold it became obvious who the winner would be.

"Ma'am," Captain shun said behind me "your orders?"

Lowering the telescope, I sighed. "We're outnumbered and outpowered."

It didn't take long for the Avatar to overpower the warden and his men. I quickly decided a course of action.

Turning to the captain, I said, "The prisoners are not our concern. We will focus on tending to the wounded."

I turned back just in time to see the warden take a dip.

"And Captain?"

"Yes ma'am?"

"Fish out the warden. I do hate it when people dump trash into the ocean."

* * *

><p>Looking at the fiery red sunset, I felt a presence behind me. I already knew who it was.<p>

"The warden has been arrested for illegal activities and the Avatar escaped almost without a trace."

I turned and walked up to the young man, handing him the necklace I'd found.

"Who are you?" he asked.

I bowed to him and introduced myself. "Special Forces infiltration and information gathering specialist."

"A spy."

"Yes, a spy." It appeared he didn't recognize me. Good; I didn't want him to. As I walked past him, I couldn't resist taking a jab at him.

"Oh, your sister gave me a message to pass to you. 'This is your last chance ZuZu; don't blow it'."

I wish I'd stayed to see the look on his face.

On the ship, the captain handed me a message he'd just received. It was from my informant, code named Disitny. They were my new orders. My new target was in Omashu.

"Captain, we've got two missions. The first is a little job in Omashu."

"And the other, Ma'am?"

I turned towards the sunset and smiled behind my mask, and I was pretty sure you could hear it in my voice.

"A personal project."

I could only imagine the look on Azula's face when I brought her the Avatar as a gift.

"We're going after the Avatar. Let the hunt begin."

* * *

><p>Next time<p>

Chapter 2

"smoke and fire"


	3. Chapter 2  smoke and fire

In time of difficulties, we must not lose sight of our achievements.  
>— Mao Tse-Tung<p>

If ignorant both of your enemy and yourself, you are certain to be in peril.  
>— Sun Tzu<p>

This is my first fan fic. I do not own the rights to Avatar, I own nothing!

Author- me  
>Beta - avatardestiny, EndlessFlame55<p>

Chapter 2 -"Smoke and Fire"

_I was, drowning….._

Swept into the ocean, caught in a storm.

Lightning flashed and thunder roared.

The wind howled and waves crashed wildly into each other.

I was struggling, trying my hardest to fight against the current, as I gasped for air. I was fighting for my very life as the waves kept pushing me down, determined to take me further into the darkness below.

I lost my strength as the mother of all waves came crashing down upon me, engulfing me.

I sank deeper into the ocean.

Deeper into the abbess.

Blackness surrounded my very being as I struggled to hold my consciousness, the air stripped from my lungs.

No.

No.

I quickly thrust my hand out, almost as if to grasp the last threat of light fading slowly from my eyes.

No!

With a terrified scream, I woke in my room. I was lying on my back in my bed, completely covered in sweat. My sheets and pillow lay elsewhere, as I had obviously fought with them in my sleep. With a shaky breath, I began to collect my thoughts.

_"A dream?"_

It must've been. Lying back down, I tried to find my way back into the comforting feeling of sleep, but after struggling for a while, I realized that it was no use. Considering that I was too wide awake from my nightmare to even consider sleeping once again, I sluggishly rose from bed.

Taking the moment to stretch, I walked over to the window and slowly moved the curtains. Looking out, I could see the sun was just beginning to rise over the mountains. Even though I was a Firebender - born to rise with the sun- it was quite unusual for me to be up so early. And so, deciding to take advantage of this rare opportunity, I readied myself to get some early morning exercise done.

Moving away from the window, I began to change into my training outfit which consisted of a pair of shorts, a combat sports breast restraint armor – or a sports BRA, a weight vest, gloves with a piece of iron on top and some ankle weights, all with the traditional flames of the Fire Nation embodied on them. My training mask I wore was different from the normal kind, as in that it didn't cover my mouth.

Going out onto deck, I took a moment to take a deep breath and center myself.

The ship had been modified during its stay at the ship yard, as it was now more streamlined and advance then it used to be. The engine was now twice as powerful, and the propellers were a new design, giving it three times the speed. To top it all off, it was given a new paint job; a combination of grays, blues and whites making it camouflaged.

Fast, silent, and hard to see.

The perfect thing for a spy.

After taking a few deep breaths, I began to work through my kata. My fighting style was different from the other Firebenders. While theirs is focused on power and strength - things that I lacked - mine focused more on agility and speed. While theirs was based off The Great Dragon, I was told of mine looked like that of the polar-leopard

You see, my 'Polar-Leopard Technique' does not rely on a rooted stance, and would only assume a stance in order to launch at the given opponent. This hit and run technique of the polar-leopard - something especially effective against larger opponents - is unique to the animal.

The style in whole fit quite perfectly with my preferred weapon.

After a few minutes of exercise, I begin to work up quite the sweat. Adding that bit of fire to my last kick, I stopped in my tracks to take a breath – all the while still standing on one foot - the flame was small compared to what most Firebender's my age were capable of, but that didn't bother me all that much, however, because I honestly didn't put too much energy into it anyway.

It was then that I noticed I had a small audience. The captain had at some point came on to the deck.

"Captain," I acknowledged him as I lowered my foot and regained my balance. "Do you need something?" I asked as I walked over to him, picking up one of the towels along the way and began to wipe the sweat from my face.

"No Ma'am," He answered with a shake of his head, "It's just rather unusual to see you up this early."

I smiled and laughed gently.

"Yes, well, I suppose it is unusual for me." I said, and my words were completely truthful, for I always hated getting up early in the morning. The Princess always used to point out my habits, saying things to me with an amused grin on her face such as:

"Just what kind of Firebender are you?"

And/Or following it through with a sometimes annoyed, "We're supposed to rise with the sun."

Heck, she so often enjoyed bringing up my rather odd habits so much that she once said that I must have had some Water Tribe in my veins.

Or was that me who said that? I honestly can't recall.

Straightening, I suddenly slipped into a business like voice, one that held a very serious tone. "How long will it be until we reach our destination?"

"We will arrive in less than three hours."

"Good." I said simply. I moved past the captain and entered the halls that connected the various rooms on the ship to one another. Deciding that I needed to rest up for my future mission, I believed that it would have been best if I got a little more rest.

"…If you don't mind me by asking this question, Ma'am," I heard the captain say as I walked further down the hallway. I turned my head to listen, silently encouraging him to continue on. "Just what kind of technique was that back there?"

Turning around fully, I gave him the only answer there was. "My own."

Once in my room, I changed out of my training outfit and began to pack for the trip ahead. After we docked the ship, it would take up to five hours for us to reach our destination.

The mission, according to my trainers, was not supposed to be an easy one, - Of course, it wasn't like the last one was supposed be easy either, however – but despite that, it sounded relativity simple enough. All I had to really do was keep an eye on some old King, and perhaps do a little sightseeing.

how hard could that be?

* * *

><p>Using one of my most preferred modes of transportation, a Mongoose-Dragon, I made my way to my given target; Omashu. Along with me were four soldiers, who were riding their own Kimono-Rhino's.<p>

Once we reached our destination, one single thought into my head

_"This, is going to be difficult."_

I could tell by just looking at it from a distance that getting _into_the massive city was going to be hard enough, but getting out…

Shrugging my thoughts away, I decided to set up camp on a hill. It was a good distance away from the city, so that we wouldn't easily be spotted. Once I knew that everything and everyone was safe, I begin surveillance of the area. Using a telescope, I looked at the city from every angle I could in order to access my options.

Going by sky was completely out of the question. I would be spotted instantly. And due to the terrain, scaling the walls wasn't an option either. The city was an utter fortress by itself, but because of the fact that it was sitting on top of a large mountain, it was even more protected.

It seemed like the only way into it was by bridge, which meant that I was going to need a pretty decent disguise to get in without being recognized. It also meant that, if any part of the plan went south, there was a good enough chance that I could be captured if I was found out to be Fire Nation by some lucky person.

The sun had slowly begun to set, and it was then that I spotted a new, additional option. There was a sewage tunnel underneath the mountain, one that I hoped connected to the city. If it did, using that way meant I could sneak into the city completely undetected, and all I had to do was crawl through the muck. Closing my telescope, it was the safest, most covert action I could take. And so, I made my decision.

I needed was a disguise.

* * *

><p>I covered various parts of my body with rolls of bandages, including half my head, and put on a rather tattered up old green kimono. I reached down and scooped up a handful of dust and carefully covered myself in it for a bit of added effect. In the end, I no longer looked as though I came from the Fire Nation; instead I merely looked like a poor young girl that was completely down on her luck.<p>

Perfect.

With a look of pride, I picked up a large wicker backpack behind me, and began to make my way slowly to the gates of Omashu. Of course, by the time I managed to reach the entrance, however, my feet were completely throbbing in pain and pride had managed to ebb away.

_"How can Earthbender's stand going around barefoot with all these sharp rocks?_

To add salt to the wound – no pun intended, of course – I believe I managed to step onto a rather prickly torn on my way, managing to give myself even more pain. With a frustrated breath, I blew off the bangs from my head in annoyance, thinking to myself as I continued to walk.

_"Girl, I think it's time you reconsidered your career choices…"_

"State your business!"

My thoughts were nearly forced out of my very mind I heard a male voice harshly speak to me. With a nervous glance, I looked up from my feet and saw a giant bolder hanging directly over my head. A sudden bead of sweat rushed down my cheek.

_"Okay, I take that back – it is the perfect time to reconsider my career choices!"_

"Well?"

I blinked; still taken aback by the situation I managed to get myself into, and carefully looked at the man in front of me. Slowly, I realized that he had asked me a question, so I decided to use my shock – completely genuine as it was – to my advantage.

"P –Please Sir, I-I-I've been traveling all day, and I-I w-was hoping that I could stay at an inn h-here… tonight?" I stuttered out, as I crossed my arms and held myself with my both hands, trembling and trying to look as frightened as possible, which was… surprisingly easy given the predicament.

That it was winter and I was freezing.

The man then inquired as to what was in my basket, so I shrugged it off and placed it between him and me. I slowly took off the lid, held it close to my chest, and took a couple steps back as the man began to look inside basket. He found that inside contained various types of fruit. As he continued inspected the baskets contents with much more interest, I began to become rather nervous. Mainly because a great deal of said fruits were actually Fire Nation in origin. A rather stupid move on my part.

When he asked about them, I simply told him that it was easier to get food from the colonies then having to scavenge around for them. Even though, I added, they charge very high prices when you not actually Fire Nation in origin.

The guard blinked in surprise. "They sale to Earth Kingdom citizens?"

I shrugged. "Well, money is money, after all."

The guard nodded, content with my answer, and stepped back away from the basket. "All right, it all checks out."

I carefully placed the lid back on the basket and picked it up; as I began to walk past the guard, he told me that, in a rather concerned voice, I should consider having those bandages of mine look at. I just smiled and nodded.

Once I was inside the city I marveled at its architecture. The mailing system that swept throughout the entire city was unlike anything I had ever seen before.

_"I bet that would be a fun slide"_

Moving on from the main gate, I asked for some directions from one of the city guards and quickly found myself an inn. After exchanging three gold coins for some silver and copper ones, I paid for a room for the night.

Once inside the room, I put down my basket and lifted up the lid once more. Flipping it over, it revealed my mask that had been hidden underneath. Placing my mask on the nearby table behind me, I proceeded to dump out all the contents of the basket onto the bed, reached inside the basket and removed the fake bottom.

It was time to get to work

After changing out of the rags and bandages, and into my 'Operation's outfit' as I called it – which was the very the same that I used on my last mission - I picked up my mask from the table and looked out from the window. It was almost dark throughout the city, and although the night was near the ideal time for my particular line of work, some parts of this mission, however, required me to operate during the day.

You see, my mission was to infiltrate the city and find various kinds of information. Troop placement, city blueprints, weaponry, perhaps…anything at all that could possibly help an upcoming Fire Nation invasion.

However, one of the first things I had to do was access the capabilities of the King, someone who was said to be a very powerful Earthbender.

Donning my mask, I proceeded to climb out of the second story window, jump down and onto the roof, and from there I quickly my way up the East side of mountain. Making sure that I was in its shadow, as I tried my hardest to keep out of sight and avoid the soldiers whenever possible.

That, not being at all easy, considering there were far more soldiers patrolling around in this city then there were knives up Mai's sleeves.

Well, almost…

When I had finally made it to the top of the mountain – where Omashu's palace was located - I allowed myself a moment of rest, and tried to catch my breath. On my way up the mountain side, I had one too many close calls for my taste. However, despite the difficulties, I managed to make it – just barely. Now I only needed to figure out how to get inside.

The palace was almost completely surrounded, but even so, I was able to find some holes in its security. The first hole being that, although there were many patrols, it took them up to twenty seconds for one to show up, and what was worse – or perhaps better on my side of things - stationary guards weren't always looking in the right direction.

And the second flaw was that, although the windows were rather high up, there were no iron bars or anything of the sort, to keep people out. And in the very moment that one of the guards turned his head and looked the other way, I quickly snuck past them, jumping onto the wall and using my claws to climb up and into the window above.

Once inside, I surveyed the area. It was the throne room of all places! And thankfully, I managed to come into some luck, for the King himself was on the throne, finishing up his meal. This was my chance to get a good look at him for the first time. At first glance he looked harmless enough, but upon much closer inspection, I could tell by his mannerisms that he knew how to fight.

His movements were too controlled, too precise, he reminded me of somebody I knew.

My eyes carefully studied the room for a moment, wondering quietly to myself as to just where I might find some useful information, when the King's loud, crackling voice brought my attention back onto him.

"Well, it looks like it's time for me to hit the hay!" He said with a grin, stretching both his arms above his head.

I felt a sudden surge go up my spine, before I had even had a second to consider what he might be doing; the King slammed his hands together, causing a rather loud crash to echo throughout the room. Almost on instinct, I jumped from the window. I landed on the floor and rolled to a halt. I regained myself and stood on my feet and found that I was now standing in the dead middle of the throne room. I cast a quick glance at the window I had jumped down from, and saw that I had barely avoided being caught between two thick slabs of stone.

"Well, well, looks to me like we have ourselves an uninvited guest!" The King said with a grin, as he leaned onto the arm of his large throne.

I had already counted at least eight other individuals that had flooded into the room the moment they heard the crash. They were all armed with spears, and with my luck, they were probably Earthbenders as well. And, of course, there was the King himself.

Taking a breath, I decided to play it cool.

"Who, me?" I asked the King with a calm voice, trying to think of any sort of way that would allow me to leave this room alive and unharmed. "I'm just a harmless Dragon's shadow passing through."

I knew that, for a spy, being caught certainly meant death.

Remember. The people who catch us can kill us. They can get information out of us and kill people we're trying to protect. And if we escape, the people who hired us could kill us. And sadly, in the end when no other opinion presents itself, we also have the choice of killing ourselves in order to protect our secrets.

Yes, I knew quite well that, for a spy, being caught meant death. But I also knew that that was not going to happen tonight.

"A Dragon's shadow, eh?" The King said rising one eyebrow as his amused grin slowly dissolved to a rather hard frown. The very sight itself seemed almost uncharacteristic. "So, the Princess has something to do with this…"

With realizing it, my eyes widened when I heard his words fall from his lips.

_"He knows who I am…"_

Calming myself, I simply chose to file that small piece of information away for a later time. Now it was kill or be killed. I had to get out of here.

"Oh, I'm just doing a little sightseeing. seeing if this is good vacation spot…" I said, my voice trailing off as I walked around the room, almost as if it was no big deal. Quickly scanning every inch of the throne room with my eyes, I counted eight sharp objects pointed at me. And knowing that, with the remaining guards, the hallways were far too dangerous, the only way out of this situation was by window.

I just need to get these guys moving a little bit closer….

"Really, now?" He asked, his frown suddenly replaced with the same smile he wore earlier, and his voice had shifted from low and serious to high pitch and carefree in a mere matter of seconds. The quick change in character was simply amazing "Well, tell me! What do you think of it?"

I was only seven paces away from him when the spear carriers stepped into range.

"Well, it could use a gift shop." I said with a smug smile and a shrug of my shoulders. "Yeah, that sounds like a great idea! Maybe it could sale some fancy masks…like mine."

As I spoke, I brought my hand up to my mask and pushed a hidden switch within it, making the bottom half open up.

Ah yes, that was something I should probably explain. You see, because I was born in the winter, my fire always seemed to be so much weaker compared to others. And because of that fact, long ago someone had asked me just why on earth, the Princess, one of the strongest Firebenders I had ever known, would even want to hang around somebody who was born so weak. I looked at them and smiled, my reply was that, people who were born weak…learn to compensate.

Taking a deep breath, I aimed down at my feet and quickly fired a large puff of smoke out of my mouth, creating an effective smokescreen. As the enemy was blinded and panicking, I reached out and grabbed one of the soldier's spears, kicking its holder in the face, or perhaps it was the gut, with all the smoke and confusion, I wasn't all that sure.

Deciding that I actually had far more sense than to merely to stick around to fight, which would more than likely end up getting me captured, or worse, I swiftly ran towards the wall at full force. Sticking the spearhead into the ground in front of me, I pole-vaulted halfway up, towards the window, using the momentum to easily climb up the rest of the way.

Not wasting even half a second, I leaped from the window, and hit the ground, breaking out into a frantic run. Behind me I could hear the sounds of several men giving chase. Looking forward, I spotted one of those mailing slides that I had seen earlier. And I was in luck; for it was just about to send one of those stone carriers down filled with all sorts of various documents inside. I managed to carefully jump onto it just as it was sent flying down and over the edge.

A smile crossed my lips as I looked down and took note of the many letters and packages underneath me. Curiosity swept forward and I could hardly resist the urge.

_Well, since I am here…_

I reached down and picked up a handful of letters and began to skim through the handwritten addresses as the carrier continued to head further down.

_Bill._

Bill.

Bill…

You might be a winner?

I quickly threw that letter over my shoulder. _Man, those things are everywhere…_

Bill.

…A recipe for chicken? Mmm, I could use that…

I smirked and with a quick sleight of hand, I sneakily placed the letter in my pocket. As I leaned forward and held on to the carrier as it rounded a sharp turn, I suddenly began to hear the sound of somebody laughing rather loudly, and…snorting?

I looked behind me to see if I could locate where the sound was coming from, and what I wound up seeing was so surprising, so shocking, and completely utterly crazy, that I swear the mouth of my mask somehow managed to open even wider.

It was the king!

And he was riding in one of the carriers like I was, laughing like a maniac. And that's when I noticed that he was not only seemingly enjoying himself, but he was also gaining speed!

I had to think fast or else this would have been all for nothing. Looking up, I noticed that I was quickly coming onto a nearby rooftop, I breathed in deeply and when I was close enough I jumped. I safely landed on the roof, and in the very next moment I looked behind me and watched the old man continue down the slide. As he slid out of my sight, I smiled and sighed in relief. I had finally lost him and now I could calm down. With a few quick leaps, I left the rooftop and began to make my way back to the inn.

However, as I rounded the corner I stumbled into someone by accident. With a slight groan I looked up to begrudgingly apologize, but when I looked up I realized that I was staring at the Omashu king himself.

At that point I started to panic.

* * *

><p>Back at my camp, my men watched as dust cloud, after dust cloud began to rise from the city, believing that I was in the midst of a heated battle, judging by all the crashes and the various screams and cries that were erupting from within.<p>

The truth of the matter was that I stared to wish that it WAS merely just heated battle with a hell-bent enemy wanting my blood on his hands. for no matter what I tried, this stubborn king just would not give up the chase! In fact, the longer this battle (if you could truly call it something like that, considering that the King himself never threw a single blow) raged on, it began to feel like more of a game of one sided tag than anything else.

I ran, he followed. I jumped through a window, he jumped through a wall. I jumped on a roof, and he continued to follow me, laughing the entire way!

The minutes felt like hours leavening me completely drained and tired beyond all reasoning.

his ever loyal goons were not a problem for me. I was far too fast and agile for them to keep up, (my own training plus Ty Lee teaching me some of her moves) and my poison tipped claws knocked them unconscious, and when they somehow managed to avoid those simple tricks, I always resulted back to my smokescreen to blind them and throw them off my trail.

But, even so, the old king was able to keep up with every single one of my quick moves. What's worse is that he seemed to do more than just keep up. In fact, it was almost like he could read my mind, and somehow know what I was planning on doing next.

...My teacher. Yes, that had to be it, for it was the only true explanation. Somehow, he knew my teacher. I remember that I once heard about some kind of 'old man club' and apparently (although I never really considered myself enough of interest) they've heard of me too.

Yes, now it all added up. The surprising way he knew that I worked for the Princess, the way he was able to read my every move, despite the fact I had mainly constructed and thought of this fighting style myself. This old Earth Kingdom fool learned about me from that Fire Nation old fool!

However, what was truly the sad thing here was that I wasn't at all going to figure this amazing fact out until much, much later. Because at that moment in time, I was far too busy panicking and running for my life to even take a moment to breathe, let alone think straight and consider the possibilities.

As the hours wore on, which consisted of simply rushing throughout all the levels of city, struggling to lose him at all costs as he followed behind me, determined as ever, night soon fell over and I found myself hiding behind a wall, struggling to catch my breath. After a moment, I peered forward, around the corner, and was pleasantly surprised when I saw no sign of the crazy king.

"Finally!" I bellowed out in happiness, as I ran a hand over my face and sighed deeply. My voice then took on a much more annoyed tone. "for an old guy he sure can keep up! he's basically one man army. I mean, honestly, what is he, immortal or something?"

"I may be old, but I'm not immortal!"

My eyes widened when I heard the voice not even inches away from my ear. I quickly turned, and saw the King just standing there in front of me, his characteristic playful grin upon his lips. Now, under most circumstances I may have tried to engage him directly in battle, however, after years of sparring with the Princess, I've learned to be rather careful when judging an opponent's strength. I knew quite well that I was at the disadvantage. Not only because of the fact that he was far stronger, but also I was completely outnumbered. I knew that choosing to fight an Earthbender in very close quarters was never a wise idea at all, and so, instead, I began to rack my brain and struggled to think of another choice of action I could take.

"What do you want from me?" I asked him carefully.

"What do _I_ want?" He repeated, as his expression twisted and became somewhat of a cross between amusement and confusion. "Aren't _you_ the one who broke into _my_house?"

He had a point. But, even so, I wasn't just going to stand around and allow myself to be captured. I leaned forward; about to make a smokescreen and try my hand at escaping once again, when he quickly jammed a rock into my mask's mouth, causing a small explosion of smoke to fill my mask. Coughing franticly, I ripped off my mask and it clattered to the ground in front of the King's feet as he stared down at it in curiosity. No, no, no, this wasn't at all what was supposed to have happened. I wasn't prepared to fight, my cover had been blown, and now…my only real chance at surviving was to flee.

So I ran - once again.

I continued to run until I safely had made it back to the inn. Once I was there, I quietly crept around the back and carefully climbed into my room. Without taking a moment to try and calm my quickly beating heart, I continued to move a fast speed and changed out of my spy clothing and back into my refugee disguise.

As I exited out of the inn and began to head to the main gate, hoping to myself that I could easily get out of the city without many problems, I was suddenly stopped by two of its keepers.

"Sorry Miss, but we must ask you to go back inside," They told me as they held their hands up in front of my face, refusing to allow me to pass. "We received reports that there's an assassin on the loose, and it is not safe."

Hearing their words, I winched to myself in frustration. Great, now they think I'm an assassin…

What was worse was that…because they were aware of the danger within their city, and the danger being one of an assassin, none the less, it meant that there could be a very high possibility of a 'kill on sight' order being issued.

"Please, I really need to be on my way." I suddenly spoke up, desperation thick in my voice as I began to try and make them see my side of things, and how I had to get out of the city right away for very important reasons. They stared at me with focused features as they listened to my pleads, however, as I continued to speak with the rather stubborn keepers – which then turned into arguments and then turned into very heated ones at that - for several minutes, it became clear to me that I was getting nowhere fast, and they would not budge despite anything I told them.

"Is there a problem here?" A sudden voice came from behind - one that sounded all too familiar.

The men quickly snapped to attention, as the one that was closest to me turned to address the King in a deep, serious, voice. "Your Highness. This young lady insists that she be allowed to leave the premises."

"Really?" The King asked with a raise of his bushy eyebrows, seemingly interested in my situation.

"And why would that be?" He was peering down at me; I could sense it even though I had my backed turned towards him. He knew who I was. From the moment he stepped up and saw me in front of the gate it was all over. He got me. I didn't have to look at him to understand that, for I could simply hear it in his voice. My heart began to pound heavily in my chest, and I could feel the sweat beading down my neck as I looked up at the keepers with wide eyes.

"P-Please, you must understand that I simply want to go and see my sister." I pleaded to them in a broken voice, not once turning around, or giving any sort of indication that I was well aware the King was still staring down at me. "She's not well, you see, and I need to get to her as soon as possible…!"

When the emotional voice left my lips, I bit down and muffled a groan. What was wrong with me? I could hardly believe that I was standing there, in between Omashu's King and the gate to my freedom, actually pleading desperately! Of course, granted, I wasn't at all as strong as Azula…but I've fought over twenty men, and I've trained with Masters! The Princess of the Fire Nation herself complimented me on my skills!

But now, I'd managed to make a completely deadly mistake, one that I know if (somehow) I ever managed to get out of here alive, Azula would surely lecture me on until late hours of the night. I've underestimated my opponent; I left almost all my equipment on the ship. I should have known better…

"Well, in that case -"

I was shaking as he spoke, fear ebbing off of me in waves. Was this really it? Had I honestly failed that spectacularly?

"…We can't keep her sister waiting, now can we?"

_"Eh?"_

"Don't forget your souvenir!" he said as he handed me my mask (Still with the rock inside of its mouth)

after he ordered the gate open I walked back to camp in a daze, ignoring the questions from my men I ordered them to break camp and proceeded to head back to the ship.

The entire way there I didn't say a single word, or was there a single bit of emotion on my face. When we made it back to the ship the Captain greeted me and asked me how my mission went I told him to take this ship it out to sea. When it looked like he was about to ask me something I snapped at him and told him to hop to it.

When I needed to my room I put down my mask, my backpack and I collapsed on my bed

A thousand emotions hit me at once

I don't know which one caused it but tears started to fall from my eyes, I must've spend a good hour that night crying into my pillow.

* * *

><p>The next day I send a letter to Azula telling her it my mission was not fruitful (which was putting it mildly) and begged her for forgiveness.<p>

I was in my room mildly depressed, until I remembered something that brought a smile to my face. I was born in the winter but more accurately I was born in winter solstice. Traditionally, Azula and I always had tea on our birthdays. Plus I have had a good ideal where the avatar was going to be on the winter solstice.

It was going to be a good day I thought as I blew a puff of smoke and fire out of my mouth.

* * *

><p>Next chapter<p>

Solstice sisters


	4. Chapter 3 Solstice Sisters part1

Author- me  
>Beta - Avatardestiny, EndlessFlame55, Ninjagirl2211<p>

_"Opportunities multiply as they are seized." _  
><strong>Sun Tzu<strong>

_"A single rose can be my garden... a single friend, my world."_  
><strong>Leo Buscaglia <strong>

**Chapter 3**

**"Solstice Sisters, part-1, summer"**

* * *

><p><em>I remember the first time I officially met her. I think I was maybe five at the time. My mother had been assigned to work in the royal villa of the Fire Nation Palace. That day we were on kitchen duty. On the way to the kitchen, I was walking three paces behind my mother—which was proper etiquette—when we passed by the garden. I was so enthralled by the beauty of it that I didn't notice that mother had stopped in front of me. I almost fell completely backwards when I bumped into her. When I looked to see what had made my mother stop, I saw the Lady Ursa and her two children.<em>

_Lady Ursa greeted my mother with a smile._

_"You must be Yoshi," The lady then turned and smiled down at me, "And you must be Kazuno."_

_I quickly hid behind my mother. She then apologized with a kind smile of her own, "She's just very shy."_

_While my mother and Ursa talked, I got a good look at the younger girl standing next to her, and suddenly felt my heart leap into my throat._

_I started to tug on my mother's sleeve. "Mama, Mama, It's the Sun spirit!"_

_My mother gave a gentle laugh. "You must forgive her, she has an overactive imagination." She said with a shrug of her shoulders. "She saw your daughter Firebending a little while ago, and is utterly convinced that she's the sun spirit."_

_I quickly ran over to the girl whom I was convinced was the actual Sun Spirit, and grabbed both her hands, peering into her eyes with a look of sheer wonder upon my face._

_"What's it like, flying in the sky and bathing the world in your shadow?"_

_"…The Sun doesn't have a shadow."_

_I simply shook my head at her reply, and grinned slightly. "I think the sun's shadow is light."_

_"You're weird," She murmured, looking at me as though I was the strangest creature she had ever seen. but then she smiled, "but I like you."_

_I believe we became friends after that. Of course, she got a real kick out of convincing me she really was the Sun Spirit for about a week afterward._

_But hey, kids will be kids. _

* * *

><p>"She's going to clobber me…" I said quietly to myself as I sat upon my bed, face in the palms of my hands.<p>

I knew very well that I was going to be in some serious hot water when she found out how I had completely failed this mission. But despite what most people thought, she was a kitten…compared to her father, the Fire Lord. Azula can forgive a mistake, but with Ozai...Need I even mention what happened to Zuko?

Shaking my head, I sighed deeply and shivered slightly as the thought entered my mind. "She's going to pummel me, and _he's_ going to—"

I was at least a half day away from the Fire Nation capital, and I was already trying to think of a good cover story for what happened. Hopefully, if the spirits looked kindly on me, it would just be Azula that I would have to face. And if it was, I was fairly certain that I would easily walk out of that with all my limbs attached.

"Tomorrow's my birthday. If I explain everything to Azula in a calm, logical manner…maybe, just maybe, she'll give me a second chance..."

I raised my head and sighed once more, running a hand over the top of my hair and trying to regain my composure very slowly, "All I have to do is avoid Ozai until I get the Avatar, and then…all will be forgiven…I hope."

I muttered my thoughts aloud, although it was more of a reassurance than anything else. Cringing slightly, I thought over what would happen if the Fire Lord ever found out about my failure. But before I had a chance to go over the gruesome details in my mind, my thoughts were quickly interrupted and forced from away from me by a loud tapping at my door.

"Madam, we will be arriving in about an hour." A voice came through the door.

My eyes widened. Did I hear him correctly? An _hour_! I thought that we were at least a day's journey from the capital! Now we were simply an hour away? That wasn't the news I wanted to hear whatsoever. I hadn't even thought up a good excuse yet!

I reached up and pinched the bridge of my nose, groaning slightly in annoyance._ "Calm down_," I softly said to myself in my head, trying to do whatever I could to keep my emotions in check. All I have to do is make sure that I report to Azula _first_ and then I…

"We also received a report via Messenger Hawk, Ma'am. It seems that The Fire Lord wishes to speak with you as soon as possible" The voice amended.

a single thought echoed over and over through my head as it desperately tried to process the bone chilling news that I had just heard.

_"…I'm dead." _

* * *

><p>It always takes me some time to readjust to the feeling of my feet on dry land after a voyage out on the open seas. spending so much time on a boat can often do that to you.<p>

When we made dock at the harbor, I told the captain that I wasn't certain if we were going to set sail again soon, and so, I placed him on standby. And with that, I once again set foot on Fire Nation soil.

A few minutes passed, and, as I had requested previously, a carriage came to transport me away from the docking area. I quickly hopped on and had the driver take me towards Capital City. On the way, I carefully ran my story through in my head over and over again, trying to work out the small kinks.

It was a simple plan really. I'll just use some of the truth to cover up the actual truth. What was it that Azula said?

_'The best deceivers always use the truth to their advantage.'  
><em>  
>Or something of that nature. Basically it meant play up the parts of the truth that worked to your advantage.<p>

The sky above us held barely a cloud in the sky, and although it was the middle of winter, it wasn't that cold out. I took off my mask and shut my eyes, smiling softly as I felt the cool breeze on my face.

After a month and a half…I was finally home.

I couldn't help but to soak in the simply breathtaking sights of the capital on the way up the mountainside. I had always loved the view that the city gave us. Despite the fact Harbor City was well known for having an extremely high crime rate, from atop the mountain, all the homes looked like stars at night. And on clear days much like today, it felt as if you could see forever.

When we finally made it into Royal Caldera City, I kindly paid the driver and simply decided to walk the rest of the way. The city was known for many wondrous things, some of which included housing the Fire Lord's Palace, the central Fire Sage Temple, villas for the members of the Fire Lord's extended family, and, of course, many numerous lush gardens and ceremonial plazas.

Fire Nation commoners were not often allowed to enter the caldera, except by invitation of the Fire Lord, which happened rarely, if ever. Due to the limited space in the crater, many of the upper-class residences were not as large as those that were in various other parts of the Fire Nation. Indeed, many nobles who kept a residence in the caldera often had much larger, spacious estates elsewhere.

In short, one could argue it was a city of snobs. Not to say _all_ the people here where like that, but even Azula once said the city wasn't known for inviting people in based on their personalities. But it wasn't a bad place to live for the people who could. Unfortunately, I didn't have time to visit my favorite spots. _'Duty before self' _as they tried to drill into us...Even as far back as my school days.

As soon as I entered the 'dead zone'—as some people often called the area in between the wall that protected the Fire Nation Palace and the other wall nearly 300 yards away—I slowly began to feel the presence of several bender's eyes upon me. They were focused, their battle stances ready, and unnervingly watching my every move. Most likely in case I was somehow a treat to the Fire Lord.

As I continued to walk further along the path, I kept my mask completely off, so that they could easily recognize exactly who I was. once the guards at the front gate had seen my face they fell silent and let me into the palace without any further issue. Being the right hand of the Princess, I was at the Palace almost constantly, and so I personally knew many of the people there. Speaking of which, I really should stop by and say hi the girls once I am finished with this.

That is _if_, by some miracle, I somehow manage to survive this encounter...

With that thought in mind I rounded a corner and came to the hall that lead away from the paintings of the previous Fire Lords and towards the door that took me to the Throne Room. At the entrance I told one of the soldiers that I was ready to see the Fire Lord. As he went in, I put my mask back on and took a deep breath, _"Calm down, he's just the fire Lord, a human being. it's not like Ozai's the Lord of the underworld or anything..."_

When I was allowed in, the first thing I noticed was Ozai's silhouette, sitting on a throne of flames. And for a very brief moment...I thought he had horns.

"_Me and my big imagination…"_

Without missing a beat, I walked in and knelt before the Throne, waiting to be addressed—As was customary.

"Report."

"Sir!" I snapped my head up at attention, "I infiltrated the base in mountains just as I was ordered and—"

"I meant, report on what happened at Omashu..."

Not good, I could tell by the tone in his voice he was already irritated. "sir! I successfully infiltrated the city and preceded to investigate the palace."

okay, now this was where I needed to give the right information. "I soon discovered that all the rooms containing classified information required Earthbending to access, and as such, was unable to enter. I did however manage to find the King—"

_Boy, did I…_

"—and was able to observe his fighting style—"

_Up close and personal…_

"—I found that he was as powerful as rumors say, but I noticed his Earthbending technique usually focuses a single opponent at a time—"

_Namely me..._

"—I believe one could have the advantage over him with superior numbers. However, I was soon discovered trying to get additional information and was... forced to retreat."

I was completely still on the outside but having a major heart attack on the inside. His royal 'hotheadedness' was not known as a 'patient' man.

"So, in other words, you've failed." he said in a voice devoid of emotion.

I could do nothing more than merely nod my head in shame.

"it appears that my daughter's faith in you was misplaced..."

That felt like a punch in the gut.

"You are dismissed..."

I was alive? No sense looking a gift dragon in the mouth. It took every inch of willpower that I had not to run completely out of the room. I stood, bowed, and then retreated.

Once I made it to the hallway, I leaned against the wall and let out a breath. One mission was a success and one was a failure. The whole thing about finding information about the Avatar could've been considered one or the other.

But in the end, by some blessed miracle...I had made it out alive.

Now, I just need to find Azula.

* * *

><p>Finding Azula was relatively easy. All I had to do was use what I called 'the information super road'...Otherwise known as 'maid gossip' Basically, tell one maid something, and everyone will know about it. So I told one that I would be waiting for Azula in my room and to spread the world.<p>

My room was located in the royal villa not too far from the Palace. I moved in the same time Azula's family moved into the Palace. My room was a decent size, containing a very comfortable bed, a window with a view of the royal garden, a desk, a vanity, a dress cabinet, and plenty of book shelves. But there were several things some would find a little unique about it...

For one thing the carpet was blue instead of the traditional red, and for another, while half of it was spotless, the other half was a total mess. On the side with the vanity and dress cabinet, there was a small table where a tea set rested. I walked over to it and begin making some tea, I always kept a small supply of Azula's favorite tea and a pitcher of water nearby just in case was ever needed.

With a snap of my fingers The candle underneath the teapot spring to life and now that that was taken care of I went to the messy half, or as I like to talk call it, my workplace. This half had various papers, books, documents, tools and even some pieces of clothing thrown about.

I like to call it organized chaos.

Even though look messy, I knew where everything was.

On the desk was a chemistry set with all kinds of chemicals raging from poisons to antidotes, it was the place right did all my paperwork, made all of my chemicals and readied all my weapons.

A tasty unusual tea samples and all documents I took for my mission on the table to be processed later. I also took my notebook and made a note about how a certain crazy king knew about my identity.

My notebook contained all kinds of information, from informants, to do random ideals just popped into my head. I always me made sure the notebook was placed in a Obviously unimportant place. That way when someone sorry it they would think it was unimportant.

Hiding it in plain sight.

One of my favorite tricks.

But most of the most viable things I had was kept in a safe hidden inside a hollow Dragon statue. What was in there was so secret, not even Azula new about it.

The ironic thing about it, is that even though what was so important I would with my life to protect, I was the only person alive capable of using it and I couldn't afford to die until I used it.

And the time for it to be used was close, as close as the comet.

Looking at the statue as it set at the foot of my bed. I couldn't help but walk over and place my hand on it. Closing my eyes, I thought about how my seven years of hard work was about to come to a head. For seven years I have prepared for this, I have planned and trained persistently for this, I just hope I was ready.

No, I WILL be ready. Failure was not an option!

I was so engrossed in my thoughts. I almost didn't notice the door open behind me. I ripped off my mask, spun around and kneeled in one fluid motion.

"I have returned, princess" I said head bowed as she walked through the doorway.

"welcome home" she said.

As I lifted my head I saw her just as I did when we first met.

Her, standing in the sunlight.

Me, in the shadows.

A character in the book I once read said this: _"I am a supporting actor, a shadow. But a shadow will become darker if the light is stronger and it will make the white of the light stand out. As the shadow of the main actor, I will make you, the light, number one."_

That describes my friendship with Azula, as shadow and light. With Azula as the light, I will support her as a shadow, and when the light becomes stronger, the shadow grows as well.

To me, she is brighter than the sun.

* * *

><p>Next time<p>

"Solstice Sisters part 2 Winter"


	5. My apologies

I severely hate to make a false chapter but I wish to make an announcement

first and foremost I would like to apologize for how long it's taken for me to update this chapter. The reason why is because of something I've been struggling with.

you see in order to explain Azula and Kazuno's relationship it would require a great deal of flashbacks, so many in fact, it would require its own fanfiction.

which of course leads me to my announcement.

solstice sisters is now going to be changed from a 2 chapter's to a full-blown prequel! So for those still interested in the story Please stay tuned for this new fanfiction.

Dragon shadow will continue certainly after it is done.

I thank you for your patience and again apologize for the delay.


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